Cecil Minton Wahle considered books an escape to new places. Born in San Francisco in 1927, she loved everything about books including their design and their materials. After traveling the world with her husband, she returned to northern California and purchased the Old Monterey Book Company in Monterey, California. A respected bookseller she joined the Antiquarian Booksellers’ Association of America. Soon, she was serving as the Northern California Chair of the ABAA and was active in Carmel’s Harrison Memorial Library and its Foundation. After she sold the bookstore, Cecil sold rare books as “Cecil Wahle Books.”
Married to the love of her life, Charles G. F. (Todd) Wahle she traveled the world as a military wife. After tours in Korea, Germany and many US cities, the couple spent a year in Viet Nam at the end of the war. Todd was the Deputy Defense Attaché responsible for the final evacuation of Saigon in 1975 and Cecil was one of the last American civilians to leave Viet Nam.
Cecil Minton Wahle lived a long and interesting life while influencing many along the way. Her ashes were scattered in Monterey Bay along the California coast she loved.